Posts Tagged ‘Hooper’s Mills AL’

MONTGOMERY, Ala., Aug. 12. — On Sunday morning the Rev. Robert Hardin was assaulted in the public road while riding in his buggy at Hooper’s Mills, by “Dock” Wallace, George Argrove and Jacob Fuller, and severely cut with a large knife.

Hardin had been at Squire Anderson’s to get married, and was going to his appointment at Union Hill with his wife. There seems to have been a strong hatred of him by the bride’s relatives — Argrove her brother, and her step-father, Thomas Wallace, and his son by a former marriage, “Dock” Wallace, and his son-in-law Fuller. They had been making threats for three or four days, and had warned Hardin to leave the country or they would kill him.

On Sunday morning, when they found that the couple had run off and got married, they set out to find them. The meeting took place on the public road. Argrove seized Hardin’s horse by the bridle and peremptorily ordered him to then and there turn about and leave the country. Hardin attempted to remonstrate with the men, but “Dock” Wallace ran up to him and struck him three times with his knife, inflicting three severe wounds on his right arm and shoulder. One gash was nearly 11 inches long, nearly severing the arm at the shoulder. The second cut was on the write and the third at the elbow. Wallace was striking at Hardin’s throat and breast, but Hardin kept his body turned so that his arm received the blows.

The bride, seeing that her relatives were trying to murder her husband, jumped out of the buggy and ran. Wallace ran after her and three a stick at her. He then caught her and dealt her two blows with his fist on the back of her head and neck.

Thomas Bentley and Samuel Shumate came up, when the men desisted and turned away. Bentley and Shumate took Hardin to Abe Hooper’s and sent Hooper for Dr. Camp, of Edwardsville, who came about 3 o’clock and sewed up and dressed the cuts. He took 11 stitches in it. It is doubtful if Hardin can recover.

The New York Times (New York, New York) Aug 13, 1884

Note: Although the article says it was doubtful Robert would recover, I couldn’t find any other mention of the incident, so perhaps he survived after all.